ARSENAL fell further behind Chelsea in the race for the Premier League title after losing 1-0 at Stoke on Saturday afternoon.

The Gunners dominated possession but couldn't find a goal while Stoke battled hard throughout and took the lead through a Jonathan Walters penalty.

And the result now leaves Arsenal four points behind Jose Mourinho's side who romped to a 3-1 victory over Fulham thanks to an Andre Schurrle hat-trick.

Olivier Giroud clashed with Marc Wilson and Glenn Whelan in the 37th minute and continued a running battle with the physical Stoke defence for the rest of the match.

Peter Crouch caused mayhem from a corner in the 52nd minute but couldn't convert as Arsenal scrambled to clear.

Crouch forced a good save from Wojciech Szczesny in the 63rd minute and Geoff Cameron should have done better with the follow-up.

And in the 75th minute a Laurent Koscielny hand-ball gifted Stoke the opportunity to take a deserved lead, and Walters made no mistake leading to Stoke fans' chants of '1-0 to the rugby team' as the match drew to a close.